Social proximity in Swedish mother-daughter and mother-son interactions in infancy

The Effects of Gendered Parenting on Child Development Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Gender role development occurs in the earliest months and years of a child's life. Parental attitudes, behaviours and modelling are likely to play a significant role in this process; however, to date no review has been conducted to consolidate knowledge of the effects of differential parenting on child development. This systematic review aimed to investigate the evidence for differential parenting behaviours based on child gender that affect child development, across six areas (vocalisation, socialisation, play, toys, dress and décor). Searches were conducted for English article using four databases: psycINFO, CINAHL, Sociological Abstract, and SCOPUS. The inclusion criteria were biological or adoptive parents, of a typically developing child aged below five, using any parenting behaviour or strategies that differed by child gender. 45 studies were included in this systematic review (14 vocalisation, 21 socialisation, 7 play, 3 toys). A variety of gender-differentiated parenting behaviours and child outcomes were examined. The review found evidence that parents do respond differently to their children. Parents vocalised differently, used different socialising strategies, played differently and provided different toys to their sons and daughters. This differential parenting was associated with some differences in child development across child gender, including differences in child vocalisation, displays of affect, pain responses, compliance, toy play and aggression. However, the overall quality of the evidence, the lack of longitudinal studies and the heterogeneous nature of the outcomes examined suggest the need for a systematic approach to examining the nature and effects of differential parenting on children's development.

Die Bedeutung der frühen mütterlichen Mind-mindedness für die Entwicklung der Empathiefähigkeit von zweijährigen Kindern

Die vorliegende Längsschnittstudie untersuchte den Zusammenhang zwischen mütterlicher Mind-mindedness ( Meins, 1997 ) im Alter von sieben Monaten und kindlicher Empathiefähigkeit mit 24 Monaten (N = 47). Die mütterliche Mind-mindedness erwies sich insofern als Prädiktor für die kindliche Empathieentwicklung, als eine unangemessene Interpretation der kindlichen mentalen Zustände negativ mit Empathie korrelierte: Je häufiger Mütter die Wünsche ihres Babys missinterpretierten, desto weniger empathisch waren die Kleinkinder. Weitere Varianz konnte durch Geschwisteranzahl und Sprachkompetenz des Kindes aufgeklärt werden. Die mütterliche Mind-mindedness variierte jedoch in Abhängigkeit vom kindlichen Geschlecht: Die Mütter missinterpretierten die mentalen Zustände ihrer Söhne häufiger als jene ihrer Töchter. Zudem stellte sich heraus, dass eine unangemessene Interpretation der mentalen Zustände nur auf die Empathiefähigkeit der Jungen einen negativen Effekt hatte, während sich bei den Mädchen eine angemessene Interpretation förderlich auf das prosoziale Verhalten auswirkte. Die Ergebnisse werden in Bezug auf die Befunde der Forschergruppe um Meins (2001, 2002) diskutiert.

Trauma symptoms among infants exposed to intimate partner violence

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether infants have a traumatic response to intimate partner violence (male violence toward their female partner; IPV) experienced by their mothers, two questions were explored: (1) Is the number of infant trauma symptoms related to the infant's temperament and the mother's mental health? (2) Does severity of violence moderate those relationships?

METHODOLOGY

Forty-eight mothers reported whether their 1-year-old infants experienced trauma symptoms as a result of witnessing episodes of IPV during their first year of life. Mothers also reported on their own trauma symptoms that resulted from experiences of IPV.

RESULTS

For those infants experiencing severe IPV and whose mothers exhibit trauma symptoms, we were able to predict whether infants exhibited trauma symptoms (b = .53, p < .01). This was not true for children who witnessed less severe IPV (b= -.14, ns). Maternal depressive symptoms and difficult infant temperament did not predict infant trauma symptoms for either group of infants.

CONCLUSION

Mothers report that infants as young as 1-year-old can experience trauma symptoms as a result of hearing or witnessing IPV. The significant relationship between infant and maternal trauma symptoms, especially among those infants experiencing severe IPV, are consistent with the theory of relational PTSD. Findings suggest that interventions for mothers and families need to consider the influence of the severity of IPV on very young children.

Assessment of early mother-child relation in infants with oesophageal atresia

Fifteen one-year old infants with oesophageal atresia and their parents were used to demonstrate how the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment (PCERA) can be used to explore the mother-child interaction in a clinical sample of children. The infants and their mothers were videotaped for 5-min episodes during feeding and free play, and the quality of the mother-infant interactions was assessed by PCERA. The results showed areas of strength regarding most of the maternal, infant and dyadic components. There was concern about maternal positive physical contact, maternal quality of verbalizations to or about the child, maternal social initiative, infant's communicative competence and infant's visual contact with mother. This concern of social proximity between infants and their mothers was most prominent in the feeding situation. The present study indicates that oesophageal atresia in infants may constitute stressors impinging on the parent-infant relationship. PCERA was found to be an adequate assessment tool with acceptable reliability to evaluate the mother-infant interaction.